Steam-generator.



1.. & A. STEFFENSON.

STEAM GENERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1918.

Patented Oct. 22,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- 1. & A. STEFFENSON.

STEAM GENERATOR. APPLICATION HLEU FEB. 25, l9l8.

Patented 0st 22, 1918! UETTED STATES new orrioa STEAM-GENERATOR.

mem s Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct, 22, 1918.

Application filed I eb ruery 25, 1918. serial No. 219,12?

To l we? i may err w Be it known that we, Jo ns S-Tnrrn vson, a citizen of the United States, and AUGUST STErrnNsoiv, a subjectpf the King of Nor- Way, id n a mes, n he r sty o Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Steam- (irenerators, of which'the, following is a full, clear, and exact description;

Our invention relates to means for generating steam, and particularly for generating steam for heating purposes.

The Objects of our invention are to'gencrate steam by means that will require the expenditure of a minimum of heat; to do this by heating a medium which will throw oii vapor when the water, is brought in contact therewith in small quantities, and to supply the water so fed to said heated medium by capillary attraction, and at the same time to filter and cleanse said Water supply. These and other advantages are obtained by our invention, substantially as hereinafter fully described, and as particularly pointed out the In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective View of our im: provements.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section therethrough.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the same.

Our invention consists, principally, of an inverted channel-shapedgenerator which is, preferably, made of sheet metal. The parallel vertical hollow members or legs A, A, of this generator are both filled with sand B to a horizontal plane above the floor of the hollow horizontal member or steam generating chamber (Land a layer ofthissand extends over the floor of said chamber from side to side.

Longitudinal drop-walls a, a, are secured to and depend from the top of chamber C in about the vertical longitudinal planes of the inner walls of legs A, A, and the lower edges of these drop-Walls terminate a short distance above the horizontal plane of the floor of the chamber, and the top of the entire generator structure is so constructed and secured to the outer side and end walls thereof that it can be removed to permit the sand to be supplied to said legs in such quantities a to fill the same to a point above the horizon al plane of the lower edges of the drop-walls and to fill chamber C until the surface of the sand therein is about flush with said lower edges.

The sand legs A, A, is kept moistened or filled with water in any suitable manner. We prefer, however, to provide theo uter walls thereof with elongated screened openings b, 6 near their bases that extend horizontally from near one end to the other of aid fi I 1 i i V (I 7 These legs are flanked by water tanks D, D, which are, preferably, of the same height and the'same length, and a constant supply of water is kept in these tanks by means of any suitable valve controlled shown) that will prevent the water rising therein above the horizontal plane of the floor of chamber C.

The floor of and the sand in chamber .C

are heated to a degree above the steam gen-,

erating point by a suitable heat generator placed within the chamber of the generator and below the floor of chamber C. Vie prefer to use a heat generator consisting of gas coils E, as shown in thedrawings, and constructed and operated substantially the same as gas burners now in extensive use. V

order to operate our improved steam generator, the tanks are filled with water until the water has risen high enough to wet the sand in chamber C. The water is then drained from said tanks until the surface thereof is below the plane of the bottomof chamber G, and then the gas burner or other heat generator is started. When the sand in said chamber is hot. enough to vaporize the moisture therein capillary action will draw the water from the legs and keep the sand in the chamber moistened so that steam will continue to generate. The steam thus obtained will be generated much quicker the steam boilers now in extensive use because only a comparatively small layer of water is subjected to the heat and a great deal more of the heat units are utilized in heating this small layer of water than if it had to be distributed so as to heat a larger body of water. The water drawn up into chamber C from the legs by capillary attraction is filtered and many impurities contained therein are eliminated, and thus the incrustations of foreign matter that accumulate in the common boilers and boilers employing the same general principles of construction, are avoided to a very great extent.

inlet not lt is possible to use our improvements without the .sand. In this event, the water would be permitted to rise into chamber C to a depth sutlicient to cover the floor thereof and maintained at this level, but we prefer, for obvious reasons, to employ sand.

,, It is also obvious that the mechanical features of our invention, as hereinbeiiore described, might be modified or changed without departing from the principle of construction thereof. All such modifications and changes we desire to be understood as contemplating within the spirit of our invention.

What we claim as new is 2-- 1. A steam generator comprising a horizontal st am gen r ting chamber, a lower compartment, a non-soluble granular min eral for supplying water from said lower compartment to said chamber, and a heating apparatus that is directly applied to and heats said chamber.

2. A steam generator comprising a horizontal steam generating chamber, a lower compartment which communicates with said chamber throughout its length, a non-soluble granular mineral in said lower compartment which extends into said chamber and supplies moisture thereto, and a heating apparatus that heats said chamber and the capillary medium contained therein.

3. A steam generator comprising an inverted channel-shaped hollow structure the horizontal part of which constitutes a steam eneratin chamber and the le s of which a 7 U constitute supply compartments from which water is supplied to said chamber, a sand placed in said legs and extending over the bottom of said chamber, and a heating apparatus placed under said horizontal member.

a. A steam generator comprising an inverted channel-shaped hollow structure the horizontal part of which constitutes a steam generating chamber and the vertical parts of which form legs, longitudinal drop-walls depending from the top of said chamber adjacent said legs, sand placed in said legs our hands this 2d day of February, 1918.

this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of resales "generating chamber and the vertical parts oi": which constitute hollow legs that have openings in their outer walls near their bases, sand in said legs and generating chamber, tanks flanking said outer walls, and a heating apparatus under said chamber.

6. A steam generator comprising an inverted channel-shaped hollow structure the horizontal part of which constitutes a steam generating chamber and the legs of which constitute hollow legs that have longitudinally elongated screened openings in their outer walls near their bases, a capillary medium-filling said legs and extending therefrom to and over the bottom of said chamber, tanks flanking said outer walls, and a heating apparatus under said chamber.

7. A steam generator comprising an inverted channel-shaped hollow structure the horizontal part of which constitutes a steam generating chamber and the legs of which constitute hollow legs that have longitudinally elongated screened openings in their outer walls near their bases, drop-walls depending from the top of said chamber adjacent the vertical longitudinal plane of the inner longitudinal sides of said legs, a capillary medium filling said le s and eX- tending therefrom to and over the bottom of said chamber, tanks flanking said outer walls, and a heating apparatus under said chamber.

in witness whereof we have hereunto set JOHN STEFFENSON. AUGUST STEFFENSON.

Witnesses:

FRANK D. THOMASON, Fnonnnon ldITGHELL.

Patents,

Washington, I. 9. 

